Current documents and lists of awards from the 35th MKFB and the 22nd Guitartalent competition.
Complete official report on the 2026 edition and an overview of the awards presented (CZ / ENG).
Summary report on the 35th International Guitar Festival Brno (CZ / ENG).
FLAMENCO DE ANDALUCÍA
Raul Mannola, Aylin Bayaz, Gabriel Matías, Mercedes Cortés
Finn Svit, Rikke Petersen, Igor Klokov
Mateia & Eduardo Pascual, Leilah & Maoz Ezra
Kurzy a přednášky předních světových umělců a pedagogů v Divadle JAMU na Orlí. Účastníci kurzů předvedou své umění spolu s koncertem festivalového kytarového orchestru na koncertě v sále Nové radnice v Brně.
Spain
Raul Mannola studied with famous flamenco guitar master Manolo Sanlúcar. He has dedicated more than 30 years to the study and play flamenco guitar and has released 10 solo albums, what have received excellent reviews internationally. He worked as a flamenco guitar teacher at the Madrid Conservatory of Music for 10 years.
Denmark
Finn Elias Svit Guitar - his special interest in chamber music has contributed to participation in a large number of chamber music projects with both Danish and international musicians in many ensembles, here especially with the violinist Jochen Brusch. Finn has played duo with such guitarists as are Prof. Bernard Hebb, Prof. Michael Tröster, Leon Frijns, Maria Linnemann and Petko Genkov. Most recently, Finn has toured with the Trio Brandt, Petersen and Svit.The tours have taken him to most European countries as well as to the USA, Mexico, Thailand, and China. In addition to giving master classes at international guitar festivals, he has been a jury member at many international guitar competitions. In 2006, he was named artist of the year in Skørping Municipality for his work with the dissemination of classical music for children. Finn Elias Svit also have experience as leader of Mariagerfjord Art School and has been a board member of Sangens Hus since and are now a board member of Danish Guitar Society. Duo Rikke Petersen, flute and Finn Elias Svit, guitar , Demark, has successfully given concerts at a number festivals. Their fine togetherness and individual musicianship make the concerts a very special experience for the audience.
Germany
Igor Klokov is one of the standout personalities of his generation, as evidenced by a number of first prizes from prestigious international competitions: Coria, Sevilla, Lagoa, Koblenz, Brno, Dolný Kubín, and second prizes in Alessandria (Pittaluga) and La Herradura (Certamen “Andrés Segovia”), among others. He completed his bachelor's degree under Prof. Vladislav Bláha at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno, and thanks to competition successes, became the most successful guitar graduate in the history of Janacek Academy of Musa Arts. During his master's studies with Prof. Bláha at JAMU, he also had a study stay in Germany as part of the Erasmus program, where he received a scholarship and completed his master's studies with Prof. Hubert Käppel at the Hochschule für Musik in Mainz and further with Prof. Judicaël Perroy at the Haute École de Musique in Geneva. He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where he works as an assistant to Scott Tennant. He has recorded 2 albums: Hommage (2020, ed. AureaVox) and Impermanence (2025, ed. Contrastes Records. Igor regularly performs in several countries around the world, is involved in teaching, leading masterclasses, and serving on juries for international competitions.
Peru - USA
Jorge Caballero has accrued wide recognition as one of the most important guitarists in history, being the recipient of several international awards, and performing in recitals, chamber music and as a soloist around the world. Born into a musical family. Caballero began his guitar studies at the age of 10 at the Preparatory Division of the National Conservatory of Music in Lima, Peru. From the age of 12, he participated in several prestigious competitions, which he turned into a first prize, and as the youngest musician and the only guitarist, he received the first prize at the Walter W. Naumburg International Competition in New York. Caballero is notorious for adapting and performing masterworks originally written for piano or orchestra, among which we find Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Dvorak’s New World Symphony, Debussy’s Children’s Corner Suite to name a few. Since his first solo recital at age thirteen, Caballero has given numerous concerts throughout the world, including performances at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and the Library of Congress, and as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, New York’s Chamber Ensemble and Turkey’s Presidential Symphony. Recently, Caballero’s composition titled “O King Dreaming”received the top prize in the GuitarArt International Festival in Miami. He currently teaches at the University of Toronto in Canada, and is Honorary Professor at the National University of Music in Lima, Peru.
USA
Tali Roth has been hailed by Classical Guitar Magazine as "an extraordinary solo and chamber musician”. Her past to engagements include performing on the soundtrack for Woody Allen’s 2010 film. Since her Carnegie Hall debut, she has performed as a soloist throughout the USA, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Japan and Israel, appearing in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and others. She has won Top Prize in all categories at the Twenty-Third Masterplayers Music and Conductors Competition in Switzerland and the New York Artist International Competition Award. She graduate of the Jerusalem Rubin Academy and The Juilliard School with Sharon Isbin. She has led the NYU Guitar Department from 2008-2011, has been the head of the guitar program at Juilliard Pre-College since 2005 and the Narnia Festival in Italy since 2012.
Andorra
Manuel Alonso is a brilliant Flamenco guitarist based in the small state Andorra, close to Barcelona, Spain. He obtained a higher degree in flamenco from the Superior School of Music of Catalonia (ESMUC) where he studied with Flamenco greats Rafael Cañizares, Juan Manuel Cañizares and Juan Ramón Caro. Internationally recognized for his distinctive artistic voice and refined musicianship, Manuel has performed in over 30 countries across Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas, appearing in major festivals, concert halls, and international cultural stages. In 2023, he was invited by legendary guitarist Al Di Meola to perform as a special guest, marking a defining moment in his international career. His versatile career takes in work as a composer, arranger, performer and festival director. This marks his IGFB debut.
Montenegro
Duo Srđan Bulatović & Darko Nikčević has earned international recognition for their exceptional virtuosity and dynamic performances, particularly for their two highly acclaimed concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York in 2016 and 2017. Their unique blend of Balkan irregular rhythms and diverse international influences reflects the beauty of the Mediterranean and the mysticism of the Orient. The duo has performed together for over 30 years, captivating audiences across the world in the USA, Russia, UK, Serbia and most of European countries. Their compositions are distinguished by their diversity in style, technique, rhythm, and tempo, while maintaining a foundation rooted in Montenegrin traditional music, world music, film scores, and contemporary movements. Duo Released 10 CD ́s and albums for Naxos Records and other companies. Their music has received praise from prominent international music magazines such as American Record Guide, Akustik Gitarre, Ritmo, Chitarre, and MusicWeb International. They have also been featured on editorial playlists by Apple Music, including The Guitar, which is the most representative collection of classical guitar music and features the most significant works, performers, and composers of contemporary guitar. Their compositions have been played on radio stations worldwide, including BBC in USA Canada, Germany, and Philippines). Additionally, two of their compositions were included in the compilation album Comfortable Guitar, released by Naxos Japan. The duo has also had 14 of their original compositions published by Naxos Sheet Music Publishing, becoming the first composers from the region to be included in this prestigious global sheet music catalog. Their page on the Naxos Publishing website includes biographies and descriptions of their works: http://publishing.naxos.com/pages/guitar-duo-srdjan-bulatovic-darko-nikcevic . They are the composers of the ballet Mediterranean, the Fantasia concertante for two guitars and orchestra The Secret, and Europe Symphony. In recognition of their artistic contributions, Srđan Bulatović and Darko Nikčević received Montenegro's highest state honor, the Thirteenth of July Award.
Bulgaria
Stela Miteva-Dinkova, Bulgaria studied guitar with her father Blagoje Mitev, as well as with Dobri Hristov and Lyuben Charalambiev. She graduated from the Academy of Music and Dance in Plovdiv and attended masterclasses with Abel Carlevaro, Martin Rene, Nikita Koshkin, George Vassilev, and others. Since 1996, she has been teaching at the Academy of Music, Dance, and Fine Arts in Plovdiv, where she was appointed professor in 2019. She has won first prizes at competitions in Dobrich, Albena, and Plovdiv. She has performed across Europe, America, and Africa, presenting works by Bulgarian composers. She is a soloist with orchestras in Plovdiv, Pleven, Pazardzhik, and Blagoevgrad. She is the chair of the 'Guitar-Plovdiv' Association and artistic director of the International Youth Festival 'Crossroad' in Plovdiv. She leads the guitar ensemble 'Academica,' which has won 10 awards at international competitions in Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia, and has performed in London, Warsaw, and Paris.
USA
Maoz Ezra studied at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris and at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. In 2009 he won the Artists International Presentation Award for recital at Carnegie Hall. He has performed in the USA, Europe and Israel. EzraGuitar Publications has published a number of his methodological books and arrangements for guitar. Maoz Ezra and his wife Leilah Dione Ezra - soprano), founded The Ezra Guitar Conservatory in New York in 2008, which is unique in expanding classical guitar instruction from the age of 4 with Maoz Ezra's innovative teaching method. The concert will feature the EzraGuitar Student Quintet: Luciana Alwa, Kyle LaMarita, Beatrice Luna, Liam MacLellan and Charlotte McGuiness, all of them 14- and 15-year-old students, who have been studying here since early childhood – along Maoz Ezra, and faculty member Jordan Dodson, ensemble director. Jordan Dodson described in Performance Today as "one of the best young guitarists of his generation" graduated from the Manhattan School of Music in New York and the Curtis Institute of Music (PA) and has performed and recorded in leading halls in the USA.
Great Britain
Born in London, Nigel North has been playing the lute for over 50 years, since the age of 15. Teaching and playing have gone hand in hand and he has been Professor of Lute at the Historical Performance Institute (formerly Early Music Institute), Indiana University, Bloomington (USA) 1999 -2024. From July 2024 he was thrilled to return to Europe, and now lives in Gent, Belgium. Previous positions include The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London (1976–1996), Hochschule der Künste, Berlin (1993– 1999) and the Royal Conservatory, Den Haag, (2006–2009). Initially inspired at the age of seven by the early 60’s instrumental pop group The Shadows, Nigel North studied classical music through the violin and guitar and eventually discovered his real path in life, the lute. The music of Bach has always been his first love in music, especially after a dream at age 12 in which Bach handed him a lute. After hearing one of Nigel’s Bach recitals in London, Julian Bream recalled in 2002 : “I remember going to a remarkable recital, one which I wish I had the ability to give: it was one of Nigel North’s Bach recitals, and I was bowled over by how masterful and how musical it was. A real musical experience, something you don’t always get from guitar and lute players and which, in general, is pretty rare.” Nigel North wrote Continuo playing on the Lute, Archlute and Theorbo (Faber, 1986 and Indiana University Press). More recently in 2024, Le Luth Dore (Paris) published Bach on the Lute, volumes 1 and 2. Transcriptions for baroque lute of BWV 1001-1006, 1007-1012 and the complete works for lute, BWV 999- 1006a. 2026 will see his latest book, Playing with Patterns: 16th century divisions on the lute (Oxford University Press) and a new edition of the complete lute works of John Dowland, Le Luth Dore (Paris). Recordings include a four CD boxed set Bach on the, four CDs of the lute music of John Dowland, four CDs of music by Sylvius Weiss and 2 CDs of music by Francesco da Milano. Most recently for “Deux-Elles” a double CD of Bach’s Complete works for lute and other new transcriptions.
Czech Republic
Vladislav Bláha is one of the most successful Czech guitarists, as evidenced by concerts in 55 countries. He was the first guitarist from the Czech Republic to play recitals at the Royal Festival Hall in London and Carnegie Hall in New York. He won 4 competitions (Kutná Hora, Markneukirchen, Esztergom, Volos) and a bronze medal in the Radio France Competition in Paris. He graduated from the Brno Conservatory and the Hochschule für Musik F. Liszt, Weimar, Germany, and studied with Prof. Gordon Crosskey at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester and with John W. Duarte in London. He received his doctorate at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, habilitated as an associate professor at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts, where he was appointed a university professor He is a professor at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno and the Brno Conservatory, chairman of the Czech Guitar Society and director of the International Guitar Festival Brno. He has released 13 CDs solo and duo and has performed on television and radio in many countries in Europe and overseas.
Website: vlblaha.cz
Italy
Luciano Tortorelli has performed in numerous prestigious halls around the world, including Carnegie Hall. He publishes sheet music with Chanterelle, Schott, Doberman, and Les Productions d’Oz. His recordings are highly acclaimed internationally in specialized magazines such as Classical Guitar, Seicorde, and Musica, among others. He is a professor at the Conservatorio “G. Martucci” in Salerno. www.lucianotortorelli.com
Czech Republic
Milan Kašuba, born on April 30, 1940, in Brno, studied the violin from his childhood. In 1962, he began playing jazz guitar professionally at the Večerní Brno Theatre and performed with various groups, including the Brno Guitar Duo, which evolved into the jazz band "Ornis" in 1978. He later embarked on a solo career. He has recorded several albums and CDs with well-known artists (including Jaromír Nohavica) and is a two-time winner of the Kroměříž Jazz Festival. He has been teaching for over 20 years at the Primary Art School (ZUŠ) in Modřice and at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts (JAMU) in Brno. https://www.fdb.cz/lidi-zivotopis-biografie/397926-milan-kasuba.html
Muzejní 298, 602 00 Brno-střed-Brno-město
Dominikánské nám. 196/1, 602 00 Brno-střed
Dominikánská 2, 602 00 Brno-střed
Komenského nám. 2, 602 00 Brno-střed
Divadlo na Orlí 19, Brno
Moravské muzeum, Zelný trh 8, Brno
